The Purple Soul of Arial Gaster
by Dawn Totadile
Summary: We all have our theories of the connection that the Skeleton Brothers have to W.D. Gaster, but what about the brothers' mother? Follow Dr. Ariel Serif as she chooses to right the wrongs of her ancestors and help to brake the barrier, and falls in love along the way. This story might make you cry at the end, but this is part of a series, so don't worry too much. rated for suicidals.
1. Chapter 1

People had been known to disappear around the top of Mt. Ebbot. One such person was a woman who was named Ariel Serif. She was a young scientist that had just graduated from college as a Mythologist, with her concentration on monsters and a minor in engineering. Very few knew that she was a descendent of three of the seven sages that had sealed the monsters underground in the first place, or that she was descended from two of the three sages who were actually friends with the monsters. The only reason the purple souled sage, the light blue souled sage, and the red souled sage had helped to seal the monsters in was to protect them from the rest of the humans, and they did so with heavy hearts. The red soul had actually been a part of the royal guard before the war started, while the purple had been one of the leading scientists, always trying to better things for the world. The light Blue soul had been one of the royal sorcerers that had the patience to learn Monster Magic.

The stories of the truth behind the monsters' imprisonment had been passed down through the Serif family for generations, and Ariel Serif was determined to find out any truth behind it. She found the opening and brought out her soul. It was quivering with excitement, anticipation, and a perseverance to survive whatever may become of her down there. Perseverance was one of the greatest traits of the purple soul, and being the one to inherit the color only made Ariel more sure that she was meant to go and become one of the humans to disappear. Besides, from her research, she was able to deduce that the other people/ children who had disappeared had all been descendants from the other sages that sealed the barrier. She would be the sixth soul to disappear, and she knew it. She just didn't know if she could convince them to let her live a little first.

Ariel's mother was descended from the soul of integrity and was possessive, needy, and tried to force her into a multitude of things, one of which being marriage to another clan or to a wealthy person. Ariel was quite relieved when her father, the descendent of the souls of Patience and Perseverance, had won custody over her in the divorce.

Ariel was a tall young lady with chocolate brown hair, a dark black turtleneck, a white lab coat, blue jeans, and dark purple tennis shoes. She had cloudy glasses, and a dirty backpack that held many things in it. She also had dark blue eyes that brightened or turned purple whenever she attempted to use the ancient sage magic that ran through her.

As she made her way through the cavern at the top, she double checked her backpack to be sure that she had her books, her notebooks, her pencils, and some other necessities before she readjusted her cloudy glasses. She brought out her rope, tying it to a rock, and made her way down the hole, shivering as she felt herself pass the barrier that would bar her from seeing sunlight ever again. Somehow though, she had a feeling that she wouldn't mind it that much. After all, these monsters had been friends of her ancestor, and he had been horribly ashamed of his part in sealing them away, even though it was the only thing he could do to protect them. Ariel didn't think she could make up for it, but with her degree in engineering, and knowing about items falling through an underground river to somewhere for Monster kind to find, she was sure she could help them to at the least get things to seem better for them… at least she hoped she could.

She pulled the rope down as she landed in a pile of golden flowers that were similar to buttercups. The rest of the rope fell effortlessly. She frowned. It was as though it could have gone at any second! It was amazing that it had lasted long enough for her to get down there. She put the rope in her pack and started looking around. She knew monsters were kind from her grandfather's stories from his father and so on, but she also knew that some of them wouldn't be so nice simply because of what the humans had done to them.

"Howdy!" Ariel looked down at a big yellow flower in the middle of a stray grass patch not far from the bed of flowers where she had landed. The flower had a face on it, but something about it gave Ariel an uneasy feeling. "I'm Flowy the flower. You're new around here, right? You must be so confused."

"Only by your attitude. My name is Dr. Ariel Serif. It's nice to meet you, Flowy." She kept civil just in case she was wrong about what her senses were giving off.

"Well, Doc, I'll explain how things work around here." Immediately some white pellets show up around Ariel. Her purple soul came out of her without her command, indicating that she had been pulled into a monster type battle. "Around here, you need a lot of LV to survive. What's LV? Why LOVE of course! You want some love don't you?"

"Not your kind." She muttered as she got into a defensive stance.

The flower hadn't heard her yet, but he also hadn't heard the two other monsters that were watching her, waiting to see what she did. "LOVE is spread through these white friendliness pellets! Here, I'll share some with you! Be sure to collect them all with your soul!" Ariel frowned and jumped to the left as the pellets moved to her right, barely missing her soul. The flower's eye twitched. "You missed. Let's try this again."

More pellets came and once more, Ariel dodged them. "Sorry, but I'm not one for that kind of LOVE. I prefer the kind that doesn't have violence in the acronym."

The flower glared as his face turned more evil looking. "So you know about the acronyms?"

"My ancestors were some of the sages responsible for sealing everyone down here." The flower growled. "I came here to make up for that by helping to release everyone."

The flower stopped his attack and looked at the human with a laugh. "Why do you think you can make up for their actions?"

"I don't, but I also don't think you should all stay down here to die." She adjusted her backpack and glasses once more. "Besides, I'm dying anyway, why not choose my own death?"

"WHAT?" The flower was confused, as were the onlookers. The "Friendliness Pellets" fell right behind him in his shock.

"I'm dying from cancer. It'll kill me in about a year. I figure that's enough time for me to come up with an idea that can at the least help make it easier till the last souls comes down here. The red one, and the yellow one shall join us soon, but I don't think it'll be in the way we all think. Besides, if I can figure something out to help the monsters down here, at least I'll have been useful to someone." Flowy's attack disappeared as his glare at the young lady hardened. This lady was either crazy or suicidal.

"How do you figure that?"

"Because I did a background check on the other humans who disappeared before me. They were all the descendants of the sages that sealed everyone down here in the first place. I'm the descendent of the purple soul sage; Perseus the perseverant. Not that that means much." She shook her head and took a deep breath. She didn't need to say the other two souls that she was descended from, as they already had representatives sent down, and her soul was purple anyway. "Besides, I at least can give my soul up so that you all get closer to getting out of here." Flowy shook his own head. She was suicidal, but not homicidal.

"You really are an idiot, aren't you?"

"No… I'm just me." Ariel turned and started towards a door where the two watchers were hiding behind.

"Hey!" Ariel stopped and looked over her shoulder at Flowy. "In this world it's kill or be killed! You really think you can make it through here with that attitude?"

"No… but I do plan to **_PERSERVERE_** through all trials ahead of me." She smirked as she used a black hairband on her wrist to tie up her hair into a ponytail. "I'll see you around I guess, Flowy. Have a nice life." She smiled and laughed like a child as she walked through the door, only slightly aware of the two monsters that had been watching and were now just hiding in the shadows.

She made her way through the puzzles, often having trouble, but persevering until she reached the end. Any monsters she encountered were easily dodged, or spared. She didn't want to hurt them. She even managed to make friends with some of them. She found a sign for a Spider Bake sale and looked over the few gold coins she had scrounged up from the ground and had been given by the monsters she had spared for some reason. She bought a few donuts with a smile and then made her way further into the ruins. The puzzles all impressed her and amazed her. She loved puzzles and riddles, and even horrible jokes and puns to an extent.

Suddenly she stopped. She had noticed she had been followed for a while now and wanted to know what they were thinking. She turned just as one of them tried to hide behind a pillar. "Wait!" Her voice barely above a whisper. "I promise, I won't hurt you." She looked around to see if there were any others. "Please… I just want to know why you're following me."

A sigh could be heard as the creature came out from behind the pillar. "I am the keeper of the ruins, my name is Torial." A tall goat woman came out from behind the pillar, wearing a purple dress with a delta rune on it.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am. I'm Dr. Ariel Serif." Her kind blue eyes shined as she held out a hand to the goat monster. "I'm sorry for intruding, but… well I'll be blunt and say that I came here to see if I could help with anything."

Torial was surprised at the amount of PERSERVERANCE in this human's soul. It was almost equal to that of… "Excuse me for asking, but I heard you earlier talking to the flower monster… you said you're related to…"

"Percival the Perseverant? Yeah, lame title though, heh." She grimaced as she shook hands with the keeper of the ruins. She was fluffy and very motherly. Ariel grimaced as she remembered her own parents still on the surface. She had told them that she was going away and wouldn't be able to send news or anything for who knew how long. She wasn't willing to tell them that she had climbed the mountain to die. She had a feeling that her father knew though. He was always the most understanding and patient of the two. She also had a sneaking feeling that he was holding onto a hope that the monsters would be able to save her if he knew where she was. She didn't have such hope.

Torial smiled kindly. "He was one of our most valued friends. I know he didn't want to harm anyone and was forced into sealing all of us. There was no way for him to keep everyone safe though."

"Thank you for understanding, Torial."


	2. Chapter 2

The second shadow had proven to be Dr. W. D. Gaster, the royal scientist, and one of the few monsters who knew where the queen was. Wing Dings Gaster was a prodigy, and a genius in almost every field of science known to monster. He was tall, about six foot five, whereas Torial was three inches taller than him, and Ariel was only five foot four. He kept silent for the most part, save for the introduction of himself. He wore a white turtleneck sweater and black jeans. He also had black shoes and a black jacket as well. He really just wore a lot of black.

Ariel explained her plans and her condition to the two monsters. She figured that she could use what was left of her life before the cancer killed her to help the monster race as best as she could. It was a noble goal in the mind of monsters, but in the mind of many humans, it would be stupid and fruitless, even more so in some of the descendants of the other souls, like her mother. Ariel's mother, Georgia, was descended from the blue soul of integrity, but Ariel had not inherited that power as much as she had her perseverance from the purple soul clan. Her father was an even rarer case and had descended from both the purple soul, and the blue soul of patience, bringing the total amount of power in Ariel up to three souls of the sages, but she only used the powers of Perseverance for the most part.

Gaster watched as Ariel explained her ideas and made her suggestions to the two monsters. He didn't understand why she would want to spend what little of her life was left under a mountain with monsters. He also couldn't understand why he couldn't keep his gaze off of the human. She was petite, and yet she seemed to be pretty strong for someone who was dying of cancer. She was pretty, and smart all in one. At the same time, she was able to understand him and speak on his level of intelligence!

Then he noticed something else. She was moving her hands a lot. "What are you doing?"

"Huh?" Gaster then pointed to her hands. "OH! Sign language, sorry. See, I'm actually deaf, but I've got a hearing aid on at the moment and some spare batteries in my backpack." She pulled out the hearing aid and showed it to the monsters. "This is to help people who can't hear or have trouble hearing to hear." She then put the strange device back into her ear.

"Sign language… seems useful… could you teach me it?" Gaster surprised even himself with it, but was greeted with a blush from the human and an eager nod of the head.

"Of course, never know when I might lose my hearing aid and you might need to tell me something important." Ariel smiled a wide smile with a shine in her eyes. She was filled with hope for some reason.


	3. Chapter 3

Ariel was busy with a calculation when her stomach growled. She muttered something about food being able to wait. Wing smirked as he saw this. He knew how much humans depended on food just by watching Ariel snack during most of the day. The only real meal she ever had was at breakfast time. Wing made his way over to Ariel and tapped her shoulder. "I know a bar over in Snowdin if you're up for it. Simple place known as Grillby's. Grillby is a flame monster, and an old friend. You hungry?"

Ariel blushed as she turned towards the tall skeleton. "Um…" Her stomach growled again, making the decision for her. She grimaced as the royal scientist let out a small chuckle. "…can you wait for me to finish this up? I know I can figure it out… I just need to figure out how to apply the magma into this safely so that the intense heat works as a power source for the entire underground."

"Heh, maybe meeting a flame monster might help you with that." Wings smirked.

Ariel smiled softly at his small joke. She knew that he didn't like her puns, save for the rare occasion. "Thanks, maybe it'll be nice to "chill" in Snowdin for a bit."

"Ugh…" Wing rolled his eyes as he helped her out of her lab coat and into her normal coat. "You know, I might just let someone dust you because of those horrible puns of yours."

"No you won't. Admit it, you like my puns."

"No… but I do like your company…"

Ariel smirked. The skeleton man rarely admitted that he enjoyed anyone's company, especially a girl's. The two made their way through the Hotlands, to the river person where they took a ride to Snowdin. All the while, the two were talking in hands, or sign language. They discussed the project that they were working on, "The Core", as well as various other things. Wings had gotten better with his sign language, and it was almost second nature to him now, along with his original language of Wing Dings. Arial couldn't seem to grasp "Wing Dings" herself.

When they made their way to the bar, the two ordered burgers. Wing smirked at how much ketchup Ariel put on her burger. Ariel noticed his amused look. "I like ketchup. Maybe you should let it "beet". What do you like on your burgers?"

"Heh, nothing really. I don't eat much or often."

"Guess we're both in the same boat on that." Since then, the two would take trips to Grillby's every Friday. Before they realized it, they had become a couple. The irony of the two was not lost on the two loner scientists.


	4. Chapter 4

Wing Dings Gaster looked at the young lady who was now slipping in and out of consciousness in his lab. His apprentice, Alphys Scales, a young prodigy dinosaur monster, was the only other person in there that day, and the only monster in Hotlands that knew Wing Ding's Girlfriend, Dr. Ariel Serif was a human. Arial had been the one person who could draw Gaster from his cold shell that he showed to the public.

Now though, her cancer was finally killing her. Gaster sighed as he looked over to the calendar. Exactly one year from the day that she arrived in his life, just like she said, she was fading from it. He slammed his fist onto a nearby desk, feeling hopeless as Ariel managed to look at him with her still strong blue eyes, still willing to persevere and do what she could. She had already made a wish for her soul to be brought over to King Asgore to help break the barrier, but for her body to be returned to her family when the barrier was finally broken. Simple wishes for the good of others from a genius that knew she was dying for apparently years.

She hadn't planned on falling in love. She hadn't planned on finding another genius of her caliber that didn't mind her weird puzzle habit. All she had planned on was going down into the mountain and helping out until her body died from cancer.

He hadn't planned on falling in love, especially with a human. He hadn't figured he'd ever meet a genius even close to his skills. He hadn't figured on having someone support and help him with his inventions and ideas, and not mind his sleeping habits.

They hadn't planned on meeting each other. Life is funny like that.

Ariel gasped as her heart started to grow erratic. Wing Dings and Alphys ran to her side, trying to do what they could to save her, or at least make it more comfortable. When the machine took its final beep, something in Dr. Wing Dings Gaster snapped! He placed both hands on the corpse of the human before their soul could fly out. He closed both eye sockets as his silvery blue magic pulsed from his form into the human he had come to love, turning to green healing magic as it went. He couldn't believe it either. He was disobeying the logical parts of his mind to attempt to save a human, even though he had no chance!

Alphys gasped as she saw the royal scientist practically drain himself of all his magic just to help this one creature, this human! When Dr. Gaster passed out, Alphys waited to see what would happen, not really sure of what to do herself. She didn't have to wait long to see the human doctor's purple soul rise out of the body and startle the yellow lizard woman by turning upside down like a monster's soul. "What the?" She muttered under her breath as the soul then sank back into its owner, who was now changing in a strange purple/blue light from a human into… a skeleton? Once the soul had settled back in and the transformation was complete, Alphys managed to move the unconscious royal scientist and place him in a chair nearby while she ran tests on the now sleeping Dr. Serif's skeletal body. She no longer had long dark brown hair, nor did she have skin. Her hearing aid could no longer be used if she needed it still, as she no longer had ears to place it in.

Ariel awoke while Alphys was checking the results in another room, and was shocked at her boney structure. Her gasp awoke Wing Dings, who was also surprised by her new form. Ariel had thankfully been wearing a dress that refused to fall from her now boney figure. She was still managing to blush with the new amount of magic that was running through her system. Her blush was purple. Her eyes still blue, only brighter now.

"Ariel?" Ariel turned her head towards Wing Dings with a grimace on her skull. She didn't need a hearing aid anymore it seemed.

"I'm alive?" She looked at her hand where her college ring was still placed, and then readjusted her cloudy glasses. "This is definitely something… strange… but, amazing… I'm… I'm alive…" Purple luminescent tears started to form in her eye sockets. She hadn't expected this.

Wing Dings made his way over to her and held her hand. "Are you alright, Ariel?"

She looked up at him and smiled. "I'm as positive as a proton that I'm fine, Wing." She chuckled at her own poor pun/reference. Gaster just smiled and hugged her.

"I thought I had lost you." His own tears falling down, like a silvery blue river.

"I have a feeling that I'm going to be like a boomerang that keeps coming back, you can't lose me that easily." She hugged him back, silently thanking her lucky stars for allowing her to meet the wonderful monster that had just saved her life, and that she was alive with him.


	5. Chapter 5

Arial, as the once human scientist was now called, shook her head as she went through Hotlands, trying to think of a way to help the people who had saved her life, more specifically, Wing. Wing had done so much for her, and she found herself at a loss for how to show her gratitude! Today though, she was invited to Waterfall to help him check on one of his "Weather" machines that replicated weather.

Wing was kneeling over something near one of the rivers that was slightly farther away from the echo flowers than the other rivers around the Waterfall area. "Wing, I'm here. What's going on with the machine?"

"Huh?" Wing looked up and noticed his girlfriend before blushing a light silver blue. "Oh, the weather machine… welp, I fixed that already… um… I did however want to ask you a few things… about humans… if you don't mind…?"

Arial grimaced. "I don't mind. What do you want to know?"

"Um… how does one go about courting someone… that they like?"

Arial's eye sockets widened as her own face became covered in a light purple blush. "Oh… um… well… they go on a fancier date than usual ones, and maybe dance. When the male is ready, he then proposes and the two set up a time to get married. This can range from within a week, to taking as long as two years to set up…" She fell into a ramble as she slowly made her way closer to the genius skeletal scientist.

"Ah… well then…" Wing grimaced and held out a hand as some music started. "I suppose I'll start by asking you to dance and then to dinner afterwards… if you don't mind…"

Arial blushed harder while smiling as she took his hand and the two started dancing. It was at that point that the little device, which Arial noticed to be an old CD player of sorts, started to play "I Don't Dance" by Lee Brice.

 ** _"I'll never settle down,_**

 ** _That's what I always thought._**

 ** _I was that kind of man,_**

 ** _Just ask anyone."_**

Arial smiled as the song played and the two of them started to slow dance to the song. It was funny to think about the fact that the song applied to both of them.

 ** _"I don't dance,_**

 ** _But here I am,_**

 ** _Spinning you 'round_**

 ** _And round in circles._**

 ** _It ain't my style,_**

 ** _But I don't care!_**

 ** _I'd do anything with you anywhere._**

 ** _Guess you got me in the palm of your hand,_**

 ** _' Cause I don't dance."_**

Arial was delighted to see the skeleton man she was dancing with attempting to sing with the song. He had obviously been trying to get a lot of nerve to do this for a while. Arial's heart fluttered as she realized that she was probably the only one in the entire Underground that knew Wing could even sing, and sing he did, quite nicely too. Arial joined in on the next verse.

 ** _"Love's never come my way._**

 ** _I've never been this far._**

 ** _But you took these two left feet,_**

 ** _And waltzed away with my heart."_**

The two were more relaxed by the chorus this time as Wing started to spin the former human around with a lightness in his own soul that he never really could have explained before.

 ** _"I don't dance,_**

 ** _But here I am,_**

 ** _Spinning you 'round_**

 ** _And 'round in circles._**

 ** _It ain't my style,_**

 ** _But I don't care._**

 ** _I'd do anything with you anywhere._**

 ** _Guess you got me_**

 ** _In the palm of_**

 ** _Your hand girl,_**

 ** _' Cause I don't dance."_**

Arial blushed as the dance continued, loving the feeling of floating that she had in the luminescent cave that was lit up by the bright little echo flowers.

 ** _"I don't dance,_**

 ** _But here I am,_**

 ** _Spinning you 'round_**

 ** _And 'round in circles._**

 ** _It ain't my style,_**

 ** _But I don't care._**

 ** _I'd do anything_**

 ** _With you anywhere."_**

The gentleness in the male skeleton's eye sockets as he looked at her was intoxicating, and definitely something she yearned for more of. She had encountered many males on the surface who had tried to woo her, some of which were forced upon her by her mother, but this? This was pure, sweet, with no motive other than love itself from someone who understood her, her needs, her interests, and even shared some of those things. This was something she really hoped would work.

 ** _"I don't dance,_**

 ** _But here I am,_**

 ** _Spinning you 'round_**

 ** _And 'round in circles._**

 ** _It ain't my style,_**

 ** _But I don't care._**

 ** _I'd do anything_**

 ** _With you anywhere._**

 ** _Yeah, you've got me_**

 ** _In the palm of your hand girl,_**

 ** _' Cause I don't dance."_**

The two were holding each other tightly as the song ended, both gazing at each other with a strong love in their eyes. That song was now theirs, and theirs alone in a way. It would fit no other they were sure, and Wing made a quick mental note to make that the song for their wedding. He then knelt on one knee and pulled out a small box, which made Arial's eyes widen and filled with purple hearts surrounding her blue pupil lights, something that Wing had never seen before, but hoped to see again.

"Dr. Arial Hope Serif, I'm not sure if this is how humans do it, but I sincerely hope you accept my proposal of marriage… Will you marry me, Arial?" He was so nervous as he opened the ring box to reveal what could only have been a ring with a beautiful amethyst in the center of a golden band that had silver bones around it to make it more personalized.

Arial cried with happiness as she said yes and kissed him with all her strength to show how happy she was. It was the best day the two had ever had.


	6. Chapter 6

Ariel looked at the sleeping figure of her husband holding her equally tired son, Papyrus Puzzler Gaster. It had been two years since she had fallen down the hole into the Underground realm of Home. She had married Dr. Wing Dings Gaster a month after she had become a skeleton monster, and had just delivered the baby a few days ago. They had finally been able to bring the baby home, and the happy couple couldn't be better. After she had become a skeleton she started calling herself "Arial" like the font, and even writing her name out that way so she could fit in more amongst her family, seeing as how Papyrus had started crying out in his name's font when he was born. Arial had thought it was funny and had agreed that that should be his name. Arial loved her new life, and her family. Things were looking up for the small family.

*Five Years later*

Papyrus was sitting nervously in a chair near the principal's office with a strange bruise mark on one of the bones that made up his arm. Sitting next to him, reassuring him that he was going to be fine, was a young fish girl from the high school part of the school. She was wearing leather and had her red hair in a ponytail. She also had a bandage over her eye. Papyrus was crying, mainly because this stranger had gotten really hurt trying to help him away from some bullies, two of which were sitting on another bench on the other side of the door.

"Papyrus?" The young skeleton looked up at the whisper like voice of his mother. She was still wearing her cloudy glasses and lab coat, meaning that she had been taken away from helping her husband with their latest project, the Core. "Are you alright?"

If Papyrus had human features, his lip would have been quivering. "I'M SORRY, MOMMY!" He jumped from the bench into her arms and started sobbing, apologizing for being stupid and a loser of all things! The bullies had really gotten to his little ego.

Arial stroked her child's skull, hoping to calm him down. "Shhh, shhh, it's okay, it's okay, baby, c'mon, where's my Happy Pappy? Who's been telling you all these lies?"

Undyne Fisher, the fish teen who was about to graduate growled. "Those jerks over there." She pointed out the creatures who had not only poked her eye out for defending the boy, but had tried to beat him to dust for accidently wandering over to the high school area of the school. "Kid got lost and these jerks beat him up for it."

Arial looked from Undyne to the creatures who had bullied her son and sighed. 'Even among "Peaceful Monsters" there are bullies.' She then looked to Undyne. "Are your parents coming to get you?"

Undyne glanced downwards. "Don't got none." She growled as she remembered her adoptive mother once more. She had died a little over a decade ago before Ariel had fallen.

Arial nodded and then looked to Papyrus. "Papyrus…" The little boy looked up, blue glistening tears falling from his eye sockets. "I'm gonna need you to stay here for a minute with this young lady while I go and talk to your principal, alright?" Papyrus nodded slowly. "What's your name, miss?"

"Undyne… Undyne Fisher. I live in Waterfall, ma'am."

Arial smiled and nodded. "Alright, wait here with Papyrus and I'll be back to take you both home." The school was at the border of Hotlands and Waterfall, a little off the beaten path, but it worked for the majority of people who didn't live in the capital.

Arial went into the office and listened as the principal apologized about the older students and admitted to being surprised about Undyne actually helping the young skeleton, seeing as how aggressive she is. Arial nodded and an idea started to form into her head.

"If this keeps up, I'm going to home school my son, and as for Ms. Fisher, I might have an idea on how to deal with her usual aggressive behavior." She smiled as she explained her plan to the principal.

"Ma'am, that would require you to…"

"To be able to do combat on a level higher than her? Yes, I can do that. I can do a lot of things that people don't know about. As for work, I can multitask."

With that, Arial and the principal had come to a conclusion, and Arial took both her son and the young lady with her as they left, but not without saying something to the bullies before leaving.

"If I hear about anything like this again," Her eye sockets darkened from their usual blue eyed glow into a black abyss. "You're going to have **a bad time…** understood?" The two had started shivering and nodding, swearing to never lay another finger on the boy or to go against Undyne ever again. They had gotten the worst out of it anyway when the fish girl had joined.

Undyne was confused about why she had been allowed to leave with the two skeletons as they made their way through Waterfall. Undyne showed them to her house. "Thanks for walking me home…"

"NYEH, THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR!" Papyrus laughed as he was still wrapped around his mother.

"Tomorrow I'll pick you both up from school and we'll start training. You two could stand to toughen up." Arial smirked as she saw the fish girl glare. "I'm not just a mother and scientist, Ms. Fisher, I'm also a fighter. I have a lot of what humans commonly call "Stubbornness", or more correctly, "PERSERVERANCE" and "DETERMINATION", but mainly "PERSERVERANCE". Tomorrow you both can show me what you can already do and we'll start training on that."

"What do you get out of it?" Undyne was skeptical about the whole thing.

"A sparring partner who doesn't know my strengths and weaknesses, and someone who will help my son to train as well." Arial grinned.

Undyne looked at her for a second as though she was crazy before bursting into laughter. "That's brilliant! Alright, you're on, but just so you know, I'm pretty tough. I train with King Asgore on Saturdays ya know."

"Good, then you'll have no trouble training with me and Papyrus after school on school days, and if you both need help with homework, well that's another thing I can help with."

Undyne was surprised at the generous offer from the stranger and knew that it would be foolish to turn down. She then looked to Papyrus who was already starting to fall asleep from all the excitement that had happened. 'I'll help you to protect your family if this works out…' Undyne's gaze then returned to the scientist. "You got yourself a deal, Mrs.…?"

"Dr. Arial Serif-Gaster, but everyone just calls me Arial, or Mrs. Gaster since my husband is Dr. Gaster."

"Well you got yourself a deal, Arial." The two shook hands before the skeleton mom took her child back home to Snowdin with a smile on her face and contentment in her heart.

 _ **Yes, I know, you all thought that Papyrus was younger and that he met Undyne at a random time while trying to join the royal guard, right? HA! Joke's on you! Papyrus is older! Papyrus was only waiting outside Undyne's house all night with the request to join the guard to show how loyal and determined he was! Oh, and yeah, don't mess with Arial's Baby bones, or you'll have a Bad Time!**_


	7. Chapter 7

Six year old Papyrus was sitting down with his arms carefully holding onto the small bundle of bones that was known as Sans Comedic Gaster raised his arms up to try and touch his older brother. Arial smiled from the hospital bed as Wing took pictures with his camera. Papyrus couldn't help but smile and cry at the same time. He was a big brother! He was now in charge of protecting someone smaller than him! "HELLO BROTHER. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, PROMISE TO BE THE BEST BROTHER IN THE WORLD TO YOU, SANS."

At this, the baby in his arms giggled and cooed at his elder brother and had finally managed to grab his big brother's skull and pulled it forward for a kiss. Papyrus blushed a dark blue as he handed the baby back to his mother.

"Looks like he likes that idea, Papyrus." The baby giggled again as he looked up at his mother with blue filled eye sockets. "Don't you, Sans?"

The baby skeleton made an "O" with his mouth and looked from her to his brother before shocking everyone in the room with his first word. "Papyrus!" His fists pumped into the air, as his older brother cried with joy, taking the infant back from his shocked mother while their father made his way over to his wife.

"Is that normal speed for…" Leaving the question hanging so as not to let their sons know they were part human.

"No, it's not normal for my part of the family." Arial took a deep breath and smiled as her eldest held his tiny brother with care and excitement. "Looks like we have another little genius on hand." While she held her smile for her family, she had concerns about this. 'Is it because he's from a family of geniuses? Even Papyrus is a genius in his own way, what with all the puzzles he likes to do… they really are destined for greatness… maybe they'll be allowed to go to the surface one day… no… they will! I'll do what I can and make sure that they will get to the surface, even if it takes my own soul to break the barrier, my boys will see the sun!'

"NYEH NYEH NYEH, OF COURSE WE DO! HE IS THE AMAZING LITTLE BROTHER OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS! HE SHALL BE THE SMARTEST SKELETON IN THE WHOLE UNDERGROUND SOMEDAY!" Papyrus held his little brother up and spun around as he thought about all that his little brother was going to be capable of. 'I shall make sure he is just as great as me! My brother may be a genius, but I shall still be there to teach him, and protect him. I shall strive to become one of the greatest royal guardsmen in the whole royal guard! I will vow to protect my little brother, and my family, no matter what!' Papyrus didn't know it, but that day, his soul shined a little brighter with something that made his mother proud. His soul shined with the seven traits of humans that were good and powerful; DETERMINATION, KINDNESS, BRAVERY, JUSTICE, PATIENCE, INTEGRITY, and PERSERVERANCE were the traits that shined in her son's soul, but INTEGRITY above all else. Not the same sort of INTEGRITY as her mother, but the kind that allowed him to try to be a perfectionist. He would make sure that he could do all he could with all his powers to protect his family and friends, especially his dear little brother.

Suddenly Arial noticed that her younger son's soul was also glowing faintly as he fell asleep in his older brother's arms. Papyrus held him close to him suddenly feeling worried. Arial noticed that the younger's soul was also filled with the human traits along with the monster traits, just like his older brother. Unlike his older brother though, he mainly seemed to have PATIENCE as his main aspect.

Papyrus gasped as he started crying. He had just checked his little brother's soul and now he was scared. "MOMMY, DADDY! SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH SANS!" He handed the baby skeleton over to his father while his mother hugged him to calm him down.

"Shhh, baby. Sans is fine. He's just sleeping."

"NO, MOMMY, I CHECKED HIS SOUL! HE'S SO WEAK!"

Wing Dings was confused and decided to give the baby a check of his own. His eye sockets widened and darkened as he saw what his eldest was talking about. **Sans Comic Gaster check: Atk: 1 Def: 1 health:1 Your 2** **nd** **genius son that is less than 48 hours old. He has a lot of patience and already loves you all very much. He also admires Papyrus without knowing the word admire.** "I see what he means…" He showed his wife.

"My word, he's got my original stats… except for the patience part…" Arial grimaced.

"Your original stats?" Wing looked at his wife with concern. He did a check on her to see what her current stats. **Arial Hope Serif-Gaster, Check: Atk: Wouldn't you like to know. Def: Stronger than you think. Health: Well enough to carry both your children and still surviving cancer.** Wing Ding's eye sockets widened even more at that. He had forgotten to check his wife's stats for cancer once she became a monster, and her stats were still as cheeky as ever. He decided to continue reading her soul stats. **Daughter of three soul tribes; PATIENCE, PERSERVERANCE; and INTEGRITY. Cheeky comedian who likes bad jokes and is a scientific genius. Also is your wife and the mother of your two genius sons. Main set of powers and the color of her soul belong to the PERSERVERANCE tribe. Strong soul, weak body, still fighting cancer, but didn't have the heart to tell you.** Gaster felt shock and disbelief as he realized that his wife was still sick and hiding things from him. He should have checked sooner, he should have looked sooner!

Arial noticed his gaze and rolled her little pinpricks of blue lights that settled for her eyes. "I was originally not supposed to survive. I was too weak, and a lot of things were going down. Dad used to say I was a miracle baby. Looks like the same can be said about our Baby Bones, too." She took hold of the infant once more and smiled as he murmured in his sleep. "Sans will grow to be a powerful little genius, just like his brother, and his parents. Don't you worry. He'll be fine." She then looked over at her eldest son. "Especially since the great Papyrus will be there to protect him." She winked at the young skeleton who smiled proudly.

"NYEH, NYEH, NYEH, OF COURSE I WILL!" Papyrus did a proud heroic pose with his hands on his hip bones. "I THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL BE THE BEST PROTECTOR EVER!"

"And the best big brother ever as well." Wing Dings smiled as he rubbed his son's skull. He'd have to worry about his wife's stats at a later date.


	8. Chapter 8

Sans smiled as he looked at his older brother who was training with Undyne. The two had started to think of the older fish woman as a sort of sister or cousin. Sans was now two years old and quickly learning. He had started to crawl within a month, and was walking two weeks after that. He kept managing to surprise his parents and his brother with how smart he was, and he also kept trying to find ways to prove himself not as fragile as people thought.

Arial sat down on a rock with Sans on her lap as she watched her son spar with the young fish heroine. Undyne had graduated and had become a member of the royal guard, quickly surpassing her superiors and she had finally managed to land a hit on Asgore last week.

"Ah, so this is how she's been improving so fast." Arial turned to see the current captain of the guard, Gerson Justice, an old tortoise monster known as the "Hammer of Justice". The tortoise sat down next to the skeletal mother. "How are you, Dr. Gaster?"

Arial smirked. Most monsters just called her "Mrs. Gaster" now after all. "I'm fine, how are you, Gerson?"

"I'm fine. I was curious about how things were going here. You've certainly adapted well enough for not being from around here."

Arial looked at him with a slight blush and some confusion as she saw the knowing glint in his old eyes. "You figured me out, didn't you?"

"I found your notes… too much information on humans for a monster who suddenly appeared out of nowhere. You aren't up for causing us trouble. You're here to help. I'm grateful." Arial sighed in relief, still holding her baby. "Tell me, what will you do if they find out?" Gerson indicated to the baby and his brother.

Arial held her son tighter to her chest out of instinct. "Tell them the truth… they deserve to know… but only if they ask… they're innocent…"

"I know… I also know that they are monster enough to keep under the radar. No one will harm them… I'm not going to turn anyone in."

Arial looked over to Gerson. "Thank you… Gerson."

The tortoise nodded. "Why not I take you both back to Snowdin while these two keep up their training? You look tired, and he's already asleep." The tortoise indicated to Sans.

Sans was already asleep and Arial knew that Papyrus would train with Undyne until his father came by to pick him up after work. "I'd like that, thank you." She turned towards her students and called out to them. "Undyne, Papyrus, I'm going to take Sans home, he's tired. Daddy should be here to pick up Papyrus soon enough, alright?"

"ALRIGHT, MOMMY!" Papyrus called as he dodged another attack from Undyne.

"Got it, Arial!" Undyne called out as she herself dodged another attack. For a young skeleton, Papyrus was pretty tough!

Halfway through Waterfall though, Arial decided to go on a dump run to grab some new things from the dump with Gerson and Sans. What they didn't expect to find was a young teenager lying unconscious among the piles of garbage.

Arial ran over to the boy and checked his pulse. "Gerson, he's still alive!" She started trying to unbury the teenage human with Gerson's help while Sans looked him over from a distance.

"mommy…" Sans was a quiet young boy, but still capable of more things than he should have been. He was near the head of the boy and looking at him with curiosity. "what is he?"

"He's a human, baby bones. Poor kid must have been caught in the river and brought down here." Arial muttered, momentarily forgetting that humans were considered the enemy down there.

"Even if we could slip him past everyone, he'd never get up to the surface again. The barrier wouldn't allow it." Gerson groaned. He hated it when it was a young child that fell down the holes. There were a few adults along the lines that he had run into, but the majority that fell were all children. "Stay there, kiddo, he might be violent, or not, but he's definitely stuck and we don't want you to get stuck too. Got it?"

Sans nodded and looked at the teenager. "stuck huh?" He looked at the boy and his eye lights dimmed in his sockets. "stuck is bad…" he mumbled as a blue aura started to surround the garbage.

"What the?" Gerson looked around questioningly as the trash levitated enough to move the boy. Wasting no time, he grabbed the teenager and dragged him out from under the pile of garbage.

He was a young teen by the looks of it wearing a set of blue jeans, an old cowboy hat, an empty gun in his belt, and a lasso tied to his side. When the trash fell, the gun slipped out of the holder and fell back into the garbage, as did the boy's hat. He had dirty brown hair and looked half dead. Gerson felt sick. The boy looked like he had been beaten up and the bruises on him looked as though he had only been defending himself, not fighting back.

Sans sat down and smiled at the young boy as he started to wake up. "Ugh… no justice…"

"What's justice?" Sans asked curiously. Arial made her way over to her toddler and scooped him up in her bony arms.

The boy managed to look up with slight confusion at the trio that had saved his life. He slowly sat up and looked at the tiny skeleton. "Justice is when… it's when something is done for the right reasons that helps people to help others… it's a pretty complicated idea, but it's not always hard to be. Does that help?" Sans shrugged. He was only two after all. The boy smirked. "How's about this then, justice is when someone does something wrong, and they do something to make up for it and fix it. Now, it doesn't always mean they're forgiven, or that it completely makes up for what they did, but it does help. That's a type of justice."

"Oh… I'm Sans." The toddler giggled, changing from his genius mode to his toddler mode instantly.

"Heh, I'm Justin Justice. I'm from the Yellow soul of Justice clan… not that they actually practice justice much anymore… maybe that's why I've got the powers…" He muttered to himself.

"I'm Gerson Justice, and I remember you're ancestor, boy." The tortoise glared at him, straight in the eyes for a moment before backing up and laughing. "Good thing you've got more heart in your sense of justice than just standing by and waiting for the verdict! He was such a passive fool, never taking a side until he was sure it'd win."

Arial relaxed a little. Gerson had known the ancestors of the seven souls that were destined to fall and break the barrier. If he deemed the soul of justice to be good, then she had no problems with him either. Besides, he just taught her baby bones something new, and that was always hard to do. "I'm Dr. Arial Hope Serif-Gaster."

"Serif?" Justin raised an eyebrow as he looked at the skeletal woman. She blushed as she forgot that the clans all knew each other, and though this was not the man her mother had tried to force her to marry, she knew he had to be related someway. "Huh… well at least I can say the underground has more justice than the surface."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gerson asked suspiciously. This boy obviously had known about the monsters, but he didn't seem to be hostile.

"It's a… clan thing…" Arial tried to pass it off, hoping the teen would understand. Thankfully he nodded. "What are you doing down here, Justin?"

"Oh, I came to…" He looked at little Sans and contemplated on how to phrase his next sentence. "…talk to the king…"

"You do know what happens if you actually talk to the king, right?" Gerson said with serious hope that the boy was not seriously ready to die. He was such a kind young boy, and a soul of justice too!

"Yeah, I get to work on helping to break the barrier, just like the other humans who fall down here… well… most of them." Arial blushed. He did know who she had been. "Besides, it's the only way I can make up for my ancestor wronging your race by helping to lock you all down here. That wasn't justice, that was cowardice! Dishonest even."

Sans frowned though, or at least, his permanent smile grew smaller. He knew what happened even if others didn't think he did. Gerson also frowned.

The old tortoise brought his head towards the teenager again and looked him over. "Did you fight in the war over a thousand years ago?"

"No."

"Did you mercilessly slash innocent monsters to dust?"

"NO."

"Did you lock us in here where children think that the sun is just a myth?"

"NO!" Justin's eyes were wide with fear and tears.

Gerson than backed away and smirked. "Then this isn't your fault, or your burden. Trust me boy, you don't have to go to the king just yet if you haven't caused trouble."

Justin still frowned. "I'm still going though. I'm not going to let my ancestor's crime go without consequence. That's not justice."

"Your obsessed with the thought of Justice, aren't you?" Sans asked innocently as he looked at the young human.

"It's what fills my soul and makes me strong. Justice is what makes things right. It can be dangerous though too. Heh." Justin grimaced as he realized he was explaining some complicated things to a toddler.

Sans thought about this for a few moments before the lights in his eyes dimmed and he looked at the boy with sadness. "You shouldn't be having to be punished for someone else's mistakes." Then he looked at his mother. "You either." He whispered.

Arial gasped with shock at the accusation and thought. "Baby bones?"

His lights blew up so that there was a large blue light in each socket filling up the entire dark space. They looked like the biggest stars ever. "You don't act like the other monsters and I know a few things that you don't realize. Tibia honest, I've been wanting to ask… Mommy…" Arial wanted to dust herself right there. "Were you a human?"

"… yes…" Her voice was so small that only Sans heard it.

Sans nodded once with a determined look on his little face. He then turned back to the human. "Justin…"

"Yeah, Sans? What?"

"Why do you want to die?"

The three older beings looked at the tiny skeleton in Arial's arms as he looked at Justin with his most serious face. He really was smart! Justin sighed and scratched his head. "I don't, but… no matter what I do at this point, I'm destined to die it seems… so why not just choose why I die?"

"… that makes sense, Justin… but say I tell you something I found out while reading? Would it help you?"

"While reading?" Justin looked at the boy with golden eyes. "Just how old are you, Sans?"

Sans then turned back into his adorable toddler mode and started counting on his fingers. "I'm… two… I'm two…"

Justin twitched as he realized that a two year old was discussing life and death with him! "… and you can read?"

"Yep! I read daddy and mommy's research notes all the time, especially the notes on souls… I think I know what happens to humans if they die down here, and why their souls still exist after death." Sans yawned as his two year old body reminded him he was still a tiny pile of bones that needed to rest. "… if you do 'Die' then… I'll just have to figure out a way to wake you up… then… maybe you can teach me more about… justice…" The tiny tyke yawned once more before falling asleep.

Justin grimaced. "Kid, if you're as smart as I think you are, and you manage to pull it off, then I'll not only teach you everything I know about Justice, I'll teach you anything you want to know, kiddo."

With that, Arial brought Sans back home, and Gerson finally agreed to take Justin to see the king. Justin was never seen again, but Sans little promise definitely brought some deep thoughts to the elder monsters who had been talking to him and the human. It was as if Sans had thought that death was simply a sleep that you could wake up from, but it had something to do with the souls. While unsure of what he meant at the moment, Arial was sure that she'd know soon enough, though it wouldn't be for a while.

 ** _Ha, bet you weren't expecting something about the yellow soul, now were you? Hehe, don't worry. Story ain't over yet folks. I have it all on my com. Just ironing out the finer details. I was lucky that Sans and the gang let me put it up here. Oh, and please, comment, I get "Bonely" down here... huh? Oh, you didn't know? Pokemon are considered monsters as well, so yeah, I'm here too... what? How'd I managed to connect to the surface past the barrier? Pfft, you're acting like you haven't figured it out yet! I'm only living down here now because housing development takes forever! We're already allowed on the surface, but the trick is if you can spot us in human disguises? LOL, see ya next time for the next chapter. :D_**


	9. Chapter 9

Sans was now three years old and decided to start his training. He knew Papyrus wouldn't let him train with him and Undyne unless he proved he wasn't made out of glass, and he wasn't sure if his parents were quite ready for their baby genius to show how grown up he really was. True, he kept calling them "Mommy", and "Daddy", and he would always ask questions and peek at any books he could get his boney little hands on, but he was still a toddler, and he knew it.

His brother had already gone over to school for the day and his father had gone to work. His mother was working on something with her old phone which had been remodeled by Alphys as a gift for Arial.

Sans put on his overlarge blue winter coat, that his mother had gotten him for his birthday, and his favorite pink slippers which he always insisted kept him warm. He was about to leave the house when his mother spoke up. "Sans…"

He froze. He was caught! "Yes, Mommy?" he asked timidly.

Arial grinned without looking at him and placed the phone back down on the workshop table with a phone number next to it from her human life. "Can you wait for me for a minute before going outside? I know you're a big boy now, but you're still my baby bones, and I would like to spend time with you, ya know."

Sans felt his soul tremble at that. He always felt it when she said things like that. It made him remember that he was still a child, and that his mother believed in him with every bone in her structure. "Yeah… I can wait, Mommy." It also reminded him that his mother loved him.

Arial smiled and left to get her coat from the closet. Since being pregnant with Sans, she was a stay at home scientist, mainly working on improvements and blueprints. Wing Dings had managed to finish the Core without her, but did continue going to her for safety ideas and improvement ideas. Her engineering degree proved exceedingly valuable then.

Arial was happy to find her baby bones was still waiting by the door, but he was looking slightly ashamed still for being caught. She grimaced knowing that he wanted to learn to fight so he could protect his big brother should something happen, and frankly she was proud of both her children. She just wished that they didn't live in fear of something happening to everyone.

An idea came to her from her own childhood and knowing how smart and powerful Sans was, she figured this would be the best idea. "Sans…"

"Yes, Mommy?" The little skeleton looked up at his mother with his little white pinpricks of light in his eyes. While his soul and magic were white usually, Sans had started to notice that certain monsters, like his family, had certain tinges to their white, which caused different abilities to surface. His usually tinged a light blue.

"Do you want to practice dodging and attacking?"

Sans eye-holes widened in surprise. "You mean it?"

"Yes, no magic at first, but I'll set up some targets for you and we could have you throw snowballs at it. I could also throw some at you and see if you can dodge them. How does that sound? It's like the training that Undyne and Papyrus do, but snow doesn't hurt, so it's good for starting out with, and you'll be training with me… is that okay, my little Sanshine?" She had taken to nicknaming Sans "Sanshine" as he loved it when she sang "You are my Sunshine" and putting his name in the song instead of Sunshine. For Papyrus, he was her "Happy Pappy" as he loved it when she sang "If you're happy and you know it".

Sans thought about it for only a minute before realizing his mother was willing to train him even with his health stats always remaining poor. "YES!" Sans leapt up into his mother's arms and hugged her as tightly as he could, happy that she didn't think he was so weak that he couldn't train! "Thank you, Mommy!"

"Hehe, not a problem, baby bones. I want you to remember something though." She said as she held him up so that they were eye level, and she had her most serious face on.

"What, Mommy?" Sans said with concern.

Arial's face softened into a smile then. "You will always be my baby bones, no matter how grown up you or others think you are. This goes for Papyrus as well. Understand, Baby Bones?"

Sans smiled so hard that his eye sockets overflowed with shiny blue tears. "And you'll always be my mommy, be you monster or human, Mommy!" Needless to say, Arial also started crying with happiness at this. Her son had quelled her worst fears for now.

Papyrus and Wing Dings came home later that day to find Arial and Sans were having a snowball fight! Papyrus was concerned until he saw his little brother laughing as both he and his mother were hit with snow. Sans had yet to see his brother or father yet, and had decided to lift as much snow as he could in one go! He opened both eye sockets wide as they glowed blue. Then a good chunk of snow lifted up off the ground before looming over Arial. Arial just laughed at it as she jumped out of the way with an amazing amount of speed before it crashed down where she had been.

The mother then grabbed her child and hugged him tightly. "Oh, Sans, that was great! Good job, I'm so proud of you!"

"I did it, Mommy! I lifted a bunch of snow and moved it without losing a single snowflake!"

"Yes, you did!" The two rolled in the snow a little, both proud of Sans amazing progress with his magic. "Oh, soon you'll be so big that you can train with Papyrus. He'll love teaching you stuff, you just wait."

"Do you think I'll ever be as great as Papyrus?" Sans asked with stars in his eyes as he looked up at his mommy, still not knowing that the other two were nearby.

Arial smiled as she got up and noticed Wing and Papyrus were looking at the two in shock still, as well as concern. "Sans, you and Papyrus are already two of the greatest monsters I know, and I know almost every monster down here!" She hugged the child tightly to her chest. "Besides, the Great Papyrus and the Amazing Sans will always be an incredible team, no matter what."

Sans was starting to get tired, as toddlers do, and fell asleep in his mother's arms with a smile on his face. He loved his family.

 _ **I blast you with the feels! BOOM! You now feel happy and sappy for this moment that shall plague you whenever you talk to Sans in the game! You are now filled with DETERMINATION to help Sans remain happy like this!**_


	10. Chapter 10

Sans couldn't believe what was happening now. His mother was dying, and between himself, his father, and his older brother, none of them could figure out how to save her. His father had nearly killed himself trying to save her again like he had last time and was now bedridden by Papyrus' orders while Sans was supposed to stay in his room. Sans wasn't going to let that stop him though. He needed to see his mommy. She needed someone to be there when she died. It didn't feel right to leave her alone.

"Mommy?" Arial turned her head towards her youngest with a grimace on her face.

"Hello, Baby Bones… I'm sorry I'm not feeling good, so we can't train now." She weakly coughed out as her pupils lit up a slightly purple color rather than her usual blue.

"That's okay, Mommy." Sans sat himself on the bed next to his mother. "I came to talk to you. That's all." He was holding the pain in his heart and trying to keep his voice from cracking.

Arial was proud of her baby boy, but didn't want him to see her die. She knew it was only a matter of time. "Sans… I don't…"

"I know, Mommy… you'll go to sleep and won't be able to wake up… for a while…"

"Yeah…" She coughed again, causing her son to look at her with dark sockets that held no light in them. "Sorry, Baby Bones…"

"Don't be, it's not your fault, Mommy… Don't worry… I'm gonna fix this…"

Arial grimaced. "How are you going to do that, my little Sanshine?"

Sans took a deep breath so he could explain everything. "Human souls still exist down here even though your notes said that they shouldn't on the surface."

"So?"

"So what if it just meant that your soul was simply separated from your body? That your body just needed to be repaired before your soul returned to it? What if it meant that you were simply in a coma rather than dead? And that your body was repairing itself when it died? If I can figure out how to finish the repairs done to your body and the others than I can bring every human who died down here back!"

Arial looked at Sans with shock in her eyes as her form glitched from monster to human for a moment, startling Sans as he caught a glimpse of his mother's original form showing through; pale, but with rich dark brown hair and bright blue eyes that were pale from illness. She hadn't expected that answer. She hadn't expected that theory from her baby, from her four year old Sans…

"Sans…" She took another deep breath herself as she tried to collect her thoughts. "Sans, if that works…"

"It will! I just gotta figure out how!" The amount of DETERMINATION in him at the moment was close enough to a human's, but his soul still showed PATIENCE as his main trait. "I just gotta be patient and wait for the right moment, make sure all the calculations are done right! I can do it, Mommy!"

"Sans… I believe you." She smiled warmly as her form finally settled back on its human form. "I just don't want you to hurt yourself if something goes wrong…" She sighed. "Sans… when I… go into… that 'Coma' you were talking about…" Sans lifted his head to look his mother right in the eyes, his eye sockets spilling with blue luminescent tears already. "Promise me that you'll take care of the others… and that you'll let the king have my soul for the barrier… I really want you boys to see the sun and meet my dad. You'd love him… he's a great pun master himself…" Her body shuddered as she tried to hang on. "I love you boys…" With that, her voice faded and her soul lifted from her body.

"Mommy… MOMMY!" Sans couldn't stop himself from crying as he held his mother's hand, fearing she would turn to dust like any normal monster.

Papyrus rushed in to see what his brother was screaming about. His soul nearly cracked as he saw his brother's trembling figure holding onto his mother's hand, clutching it, and perhaps in one of the rare moments of the young skeleton's lives, acting his age.

"MOMMY! MOMMY WAKE UP! MOMMY PLEASE, MOMMY!" Sans cried out as he watched, helpless, as his mother's soul rose from her body, shining purple with PERSERVERANCE. Papyrus wanted desperately to cling to his little brother and make him back away from the human soul, knowing how dangerous it was.

"SANS, GET AWAY FROM THAT!"

Sans turned with tear filled sockets towards his brother before glaring at his mother's soul. He didn't want to lose her, but he couldn't let anyone else take responsibility for her soul. He had to do as she asked! He had to bring it to the king!

Sans reached up and touched the purple soul as it turned right side up and gleamed with power. The soul glowed brightly as Sans accidently absorbed the soul into himself. Papyrus called out to his little brother, not knowing what was happening.

When the lighting returned to normal, Sans was no longer a small child that was crying for his mother to stay with him. Papyrus found himself now looking at a slightly taller young human with white hair, blue eyes, and wearing his brother's favorite outfit with a shiny aspect to it, as though it was made from pure magic.

"Welp… that's the problem with having too much control on your magic, and yourself when you absorb another soul I guess… not much change, hehe." His voice was deeper too. "Huh, I sound different too… guess I'm older or something…" the boy grimaced as he looked at his older brother. "I'll be back after I drop her off at the castle. She wanted her soul to help with the barrier…" With that, Sans picked up his mother with surprising strength and took a deep breath. "Let's see how this works in my favor…" With that, Sans took a step forward and disappeared with his mother in hand, leaving a very startled Papyrus looking at where his little brother, and his mother, had been.

Meanwhile with Sans, they had teleported all the way to the castle, hope in his soul being the only thing holding him together, along with his promise to his mother to bring her back. The King was in the throne room where Sans had teleported to. He was shocked to see two humans in his throne room. "What?" Sans knelt down before his king, just as his parents had taught him to do if he met the king. "Two humans?"

"I'm afraid I'm not really human, your majesty." Sans took a deep breath as his mother's soul shook and separated from him, leaving him feeling weak and tired. The young skeleton's original form returned as he nearly collapsed with his mother's body in hands. The king, kind that he was, moved quickly to help the boy. "Sorry, I accidently absorbed her soul shortly after… she died…" The word tasted like ashes in his mouth.

"Are you alright, young skeleton?" The king gently took hold of the human's body. Sans, though reluctant to let go of her, allowed it so he could gather his strength. He had never teleported before, and had been quite shocked when he had teleported all the way from Snowdin to the castle on the other side of the mountain. "How did you come here? How did this human die?"

Sans looked up to the king, happy to find he was as kind as his father had said. "I'm… I'm fine… I… I guess I took a shortcut?" He liked the sound of the word and decided that if he could keep that ability, then he'd call it "Shortcutting." He took a deep breath and continued answering the questions. "My name's Sans… this… is my mother… her name is Dr. Arial Hope Serif-Gaster… she's a good human, honest… a disease called… called Cancer… killed her… she asked…" Sans took another breath to calm himself down. "Her last request was that I take her body and soul to help break the barrier. All she wanted was for us to get to the surface. She didn't want us to stay down here forever. She wanted to make up for her ancestors locking us up down here. She didn't need to come down here, but she wanted to." Sans was back to his four year old form and looked so small, so fragile, but so DETERMINED that it nearly broke King Asgore's heart to see this.

"I understand…" Asgore's magic summoned fourth a container for the soul that floated by Sans' side, as though it were a shield. "Maybe you'd like to visit it every day? The souls are still sentient, and I think she'd like to hear how you are doing." He was still confused about the concept of the human being his mother, but decided not to question it. The boy had been through enough.

Sans smiled in gratitude as he took the container and indicated for the purple soul to go into it. The purple soul did so with no resistance and settled calmly into the container, still pulsing, as though trying to give hope to the young skeleton.

The body was placed in the body chamber where previous humans had been laid to rest. The king looked at the young skeleton with a kind smile, hoping to give the boy hope for the future. "Only one more soul is needed and then we shall all be free. You're mother's wish for that will come true, Sans. Have faith."

Sans smiled, nodded, and then left to go back home, testing out the shortcut ability once more. He was a little surprised that he only made it to Waterfall before running out of energy, but he figured it was because he didn't have his mother's soul helping him.

He nearly passed out as he continued walking towards Snowdin, small child that he was. "SANS!" He looked up and noticed that his brother, and his father, were running towards him as he started to fall forward. Wing now had cracks in his skull due to using up so much energy to try and save Arial.

Wing caught the young skeleton in his hands and held him close, tears in all three's eyes. Sans looked up at his father with a tired grin. "Mommy's helping with the barrier now… we'll see her again when the barrier's broken. She'll come home then…" Sans murmured as he fell asleep in his father's arms.

Wing Ding sighed and adjusted his hold on the four year old and held out a hand for his ten year old. Together the Gaster family returned home, hoping that Sans was right, even if they didn't think it was possible.

 _ **Don't worry folks, this ain't the end. Follow the boys in the next adventure called "Meeting Yourself". I'll post the first chapter of this when I can. For those of you waiting for my other stories, sorry, I just got bit with Undertale fever or something, ya know? Either way, I'm coming "Down" with something. Hope you liked this story. See ya next time.**_


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